The Angry Mob

May 18, 2010

Today's Gloucester County Times reported, "Senate President, Stephen M. Sweeney's refusal to post Gov. Chris Christie's Supreme Court Nominee still has several up in arms about his decision three weeks later. The New Jersey chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group led by former gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan, plans to send several people to Sweeney's Gloucester County legislative offices today in protest of the senator's announcement."

I decided to add my face to the "several" mentioned in the article. I checked the official legislative websites to get the address of Sweeney's offices and typed it into my GPS. When I reached a busy intersection, the Garmin voice said, "You have reached your destination." I only saw a bank and Dunkin Donuts shop. I entered the donut store and asked two customers and two employees if they knew where Sweeney's office was located. My question drew blank stares. One couldn't speak English and two didn't know who Sweeney was. The paper said it was on Kings Highway, so I drove further and asked some more people. Finally, a girl said she thought his office was in West Deptford, but I was in East Greenwich. Armed with that information, I set out again to find the elusive Senator.

About two miles from the destination named on the official website, I spotted 200 cars, four large tour busses and a dozen police cars. A crowd of about 300-400 persons carrying signs and umbrellas were gathered in front of what turned out to be Sweeney's offices. When I put my signal lights on to turn in, a friendly officer stopped me and said if I was joining the demo, I couldn't park there. I finally found a spot next to a wooded area some distance away and tramped in the pouring rain towards the crowd, carrying my poster, camera and umbrella.

I was ten minutes late and in my hurry, I stepped in a pothole filled with water and fell to the ground. My camera landed on the pavement and the poster got wet, but other than a bruised knee and sprained finger, I was thankfully uninjured.

After collecting myself, I joined what the media and President call "the angry mob" and held up my poster for all to see. I heard someone call my name and looked to see my brother on the edge of the crowd. I took a picture of him holding my poster and handed him the camera to get a picture of me, but the batteries died! At least I knew my camera was not broken. Just the lens got wet as you can see in the photo!

It was comical to see so many friendly smiling faces surrounded by heavily armed members of a SWAT Team and even a K-9 unit. At first, the police told us that we were trespassing on private property and to remove ourselves. Some knowledgeable person at the front said that we taxpayers were paying rent for the public offices and had a right to visit the office of our representative during office hours. We were then told to line up in single file. Sweeny’s helpers had a bunch of forms photocopied and distributed to all. The Senator was not in. The form asked for name, address, telephone number, email address and a written "opinion." Most of us obliged, so we are now registered in their data base of dangerous persons.

Several newspaper photographers took pictures of me and reporters interviewed me, so this may not be the last you hear about this "angry mobster."